Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia
Approximately 54% of the world population of southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) breeds at South Georgia. A partial survey in 1951 and a complete survey in 1985, together with counts at specific sites between these times, suggested that the population (around 100 000 breeding females) had n...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1996
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102096000338 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102096000338 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102096000338 2024-03-03T08:39:24+00:00 Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia Boyd, I.L. Walker, T.R. Poncet, J. 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102096000338 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102096000338 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 8, issue 3, page 237-244 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102096000338 2024-02-08T08:33:52Z Approximately 54% of the world population of southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) breeds at South Georgia. A partial survey in 1951 and a complete survey in 1985, together with counts at specific sites between these times, suggested that the population (around 100 000 breeding females) had not changed significantly in 34 years. This was in contrast to marked declines in most other populations. To examine this further, we conducted a third survey in 1995. This produced an estimate of 113 444 (se = 4902) breeding females. Taking into account improved information about the behaviour of female elephant seals since the survey in 1985, there was no significant change in the number of breeding female elephant seals between 1985 and 1995. When combined with information from the 1951 survey, this supports the view that the total population size has not changed significantly during the past 45 years. Evidence for regulation of the population by environmental factors is equivocal. We hypothesize that the lack of any net change in population size may be linked to a limited availability of high quality breeding habitat. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 8 3 237 244 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Boyd, I.L. Walker, T.R. Poncet, J. Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Approximately 54% of the world population of southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) breeds at South Georgia. A partial survey in 1951 and a complete survey in 1985, together with counts at specific sites between these times, suggested that the population (around 100 000 breeding females) had not changed significantly in 34 years. This was in contrast to marked declines in most other populations. To examine this further, we conducted a third survey in 1995. This produced an estimate of 113 444 (se = 4902) breeding females. Taking into account improved information about the behaviour of female elephant seals since the survey in 1985, there was no significant change in the number of breeding female elephant seals between 1985 and 1995. When combined with information from the 1951 survey, this supports the view that the total population size has not changed significantly during the past 45 years. Evidence for regulation of the population by environmental factors is equivocal. We hypothesize that the lack of any net change in population size may be linked to a limited availability of high quality breeding habitat. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boyd, I.L. Walker, T.R. Poncet, J. |
author_facet |
Boyd, I.L. Walker, T.R. Poncet, J. |
author_sort |
Boyd, I.L. |
title |
Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
title_short |
Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
title_full |
Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
title_fullStr |
Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia |
title_sort |
status of southern elephant seals at south georgia |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102096000338 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102096000338 |
genre |
Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 8, issue 3, page 237-244 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102096000338 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
237 |
op_container_end_page |
244 |
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1792494923150262272 |